At&t Commercials 2015

Actress Milana Vayntrub in AT&T commercial

Writing

Who Is the AT&T Commercial Girl?

Have you ever wondered the name of the quirky actress who plays the iconic AT&T commercial girl?

Well, the name of the actress behind the AT&T commercial girl is Milana Vayntrub.

Who Is Milana Vayntrub?

The actress, who goes by the name Lily Adams in the telecommunications company's popular commercials, was born in Uzbekistan and immigrated to West Hollywood with her parents when she was two and a half years old.

Vayntrub started acting in Barbie commercials when she was just five years old.

She then studied improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City and starred in multiple CollegeHumor videos.

You may recognize Milana Vayntrub from her appearances as Sloane Sandburg in the popular NBC show This Is Us, where she was in eight episodes.

Watch some of her funniest AT&T commercials here:

Vayntrub has also done voice over work for a few Marvel cartoons and some other online animated shows. She was the voice of Doreen Green/Squirrel Girl in Marvel's New Warriors, a Marvel Television series.

The actress is involved in giving back as well.

In 2016, she co-founded a website and social media movement called '#CantDoNothing' to highlight the European migrant crisis. She was fueled by her visit to Greece in January 2016, where she met refugee families escaping the Syrian Civil War.

Milana Vayntrub's Acting Style

With her strong improv comedy background, Vayntrub is able to bring a girl-next-door style to her role as Lily Adams in the AT&T commercials. She's able to toe the line between quirky and informative, while also delivering snappy one-liners that can catch the viewer off-guard.

Milana Vayntrub's Vocal Qualities

In her role as Lily Adams, Vayntrub has conversational, cute, genuine, and witty vocal qualities.

Vayntrub's vocal qualities reflect the characteristics of someone you would most likely encounter if you went into an AT&T store in person. She's someone who's younger than the people she's selling the phone plans to, often addressing customers in their 30s, 40s, and 50s in the commercials.

The tone of the AT&T commercials is very peer-to-peer and conversational. The ads all take place in one of their regular storefronts with a different mix of customers, from celebrities to various family types. AT&T uses calming, bright colors in a store with a steady amount of customers, always using humor to anchor the spot.

While Vayntrub is the ideal voice to sell the product, AT&T brings in an older male voice to end the spot with voice over narration. The male voice carries a more mature and authoritative tone to cement the brand and balance the ad.

Who Is the Voice in the AT&T Commercials in 2020?

AT&T premiered an ad campaign with the slogan "Just OK Is Not OK." For the series of ads that make up this campaign, the company uses the voice of actor and screenwriter Lena Waithe.

You may recognize Lena Waithe from her role in the Netflix comedy series Master of None, or for writing and directing the 2020 crime film Queen & Slim.

Who Is the Female Voice for the AT&T Commercial?

The female voice narrating the ads for AT&T's "Just OK Is Not OK" campaign is actor and screenwriter Lena Waithe.

Is Lena Waithe the Voice of AT&T?

Yes, Lena Waithe serves as the voice for AT&T's "Just OK Is Not OK" ad campaign.

Is Kym Whitley the Voice on the AT&T Commercial?

Although the voice in AT&T's "Just OK Is Not OK" ad campaigns may sound a lot like Kym Whitley, the truth is that the spots are voiced by actor and writer Lena Waithe.

How to Balance Onscreen and Offscreen Actors in an Ad

The ability to balance an onscreen actor's voice and personality with an offscreen voice actor in an advertisement can be an art form, but when done right, the one-two punch delivers a great value proposition and cementation of the brand to help with brand recall.

However, when done incorrectly, the onscreen and offscreen actors don't complement each other and the tone of the ad, or worse, they compete for the customer's attention and take away from ad recall.

AT&T commercials do a great job of introducing a comedic onscreen hero, followed by a more professional and refined 'brand voice' that solidifies their value propositions. They typically show large, moving text addressing their network's speed and reach, capped with their tagline.

Whether it's Vayntrub's Lily Adams, Mark Wahlberg, or Tim Baltz in their hilarious March Madness commercials, the onscreen antics are always reeled back in by that slightly more refined but still conversational male or female brand voice.

Watch comedian Tim Baltz and the hilarious AT&T March Madness commercials:

Another company that does a tremendous job with balancing their onscreen actor's tone with their offscreen voice actor is Allstate Insurance. The insurance company has two active ad campaigns with two separate and very different main characters.

Dennis Haysbert's deep and booming voice leads their more dramatic and reflective commercials. While Dean Winters plays 'Mayhem,' a character who always highlights the worst case scenario for your home, car and life. Allstate's 'Mayhem' commercials are a lot more comedic in tone and make light of potential looming accidents.

AT&T Commercial Summary

AT&T and Allstate both do a phenomenal job of using on and off screen actors to drive home their messaging. They both show us how important that perfect balance of onscreen humor and offscreen brand cementation is to creating memorable ads, as well as the incredible power of voice over in commercials.

AT&T Background

When AT&T and SBC Communications Inc. merged, they celebrated by launching a multi-million dollar advertising campaign in Times Square.

Tommy Lee Jones, a well known celebrity who provided voice over for the company's most recent ad campaign, was passed over for a voice of the people.

AT&T wanted to change their current voice over image to better serve all of their customers, whether large companies or startups, and that meant dropping their use of celebrity voice over. Their new voice talent has a "smoother, non-celebrity voice free of Jones' Texas drawl."

Sources say that most of the new spots will feature the slogan "Your World. Delivered." The phrase, officials said, lets both businesses and residential customers know that the company can deliver services tailored to meet their needs and that it will deliver on its promises.

"We didn't really want to go with a star," said Roy Spence, president of the ad firm overseeing the campaign, adding that the company wanted to emphasize its ability to serve customers' needs, no matter how small.

This proves that professional voice talent will always be in demand.

Keaton Robbins

Keaton is a former editor and journalist for the Toronto and Ottawa Sun. He's told stories for Leafs TV, NBA TV Canada and TSN. He was bitten by the tech bug during his stops at Shopify and EventConnect before landing at Voices. Keaton graduated from Humber College's Journalism program, specializing in Television and Online Media.